Law Day Dinner

Thank you to all who joined us on May 12th for the 2016 Law Day Dinner at the Boston Westin Waterfront hotel. The evening began with the Boston legal community gathering together for the popular pre-event networking reception.

The main event began with BBA President Lisa Arrowood honoring the Massachusetts Specialty Court judges. The BBA is thrilled to be able to promote the remarkable work of the judges running these sessions and the positive outcomes they are able to achieve for individuals suffering from some of the most pressing challenges facing society today such as substance abuse, homelessness, and mental health and veterans issues.

Ten Specialty Court judges accepted the President’s Award on behalf of the full Specialty Court system.
The BBA was proud to honor Professor Daniel Nagin with the John G. Brooks Legal Services Award. Professor Nagin is the Vice Dean for Experiential and Clinical Education and serves as the Faculty Director of the WilmerHale Legal Services Center & Veterans Legal Clinic at Harvard Law School.

In 2012, Prof. Nagin founded the Veterans Legal Clinic, where students gain hands-on experience while representing veterans and the families of veterans who would not have access to legal representation otherwise. Most recently, Prof. Nagin started the Low Income Tax Clinic (LITC) at the Legal Services Center, supported in part by the Boston Bar Foundation.

The BBA honored Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Margot Botsford with the President’s Award for her many contributions to the judiciary and legal profession over the course of nearly three decades on the bench.

Justice Botsford appointed to the Superior Court in 1989 and the Supreme Judicial Court in 2007. She has a long history of involvement with various court working groups and committees to effectuate changes and innovations for legal practice, increasing access to justice, and educating judges on best practices.

We presented the Thurgood Marshall Award to Jack Regan of WilmerHale for his work to improve access to justice for veterans and other vulnerable populations.

Mr. Regan has been practicing for nearly four decades, and during that time, he has shown a deep commitment to delivering pro bono services to veterans, active duty military personnel, and their families. During his term as BBA President, Mr. Regan created the Task Force on Legal Services for Military Personnel, Veterans and their Families.

Following these awards was no small task, but keynote speaker Rebecca Love Kourlis was more than prepared. A former Colorado Supreme Court Justice, Kourlis now serves as Executive Director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) at the University of Denver. In the last ten years, IAALS has become a widely-recognized, national, independent research center working on solutions to some of the most important issues facing the legal profession. Kourlis’s speech focused on “Laying the Foundations for Tomorrow’s Lawyers” and was presented in three parts – recognizing a problem, finding a solution, and identifying the role lawyers can play in affecting change.

In all, the Law Day Dinner was a great event and we thank you for attending (want to relive it? Check out our photo album here). We hope you can join us next year for another thought provoking discussion!